UConn Baseball grabbed a 7-4 win on Sunday at Schroeder Park against No. 28 Houston, a welcome development after losing the first two games of the series.
Second baseman Conor Moriarty and first baseman Tyler Gnesda each had two RBI as Moriarty hit his second home run of the season.
In the first inning, right fielder Troy Stefanski reached when he was hit by a pitch. He made it to second after a throwing error by Connor Hollis and to third on a passed ball.
Center fielder Keith Krueger got Stefanski across the plate with a groundout to make it 1-0 and give UConn its first lead of the weekend.
It was smooth sailing through the first four innings for Husky starter Wills Montgomerie. He allowed runners on second and third with one out in the third but notched two of his seven strikeouts to get out of it.
The Cougars took the lead in the fifth with a pair of runs but UConn took the lead back in the seventh.
Stefanski reached when he beat out the back end of what would have been an inning-ending double play and Moriarty came up next and took the first pitch he saw to left. It just got over the wall for a home run.
A solo home run tied the game back up, but the Huskies stormed back in the eighth. Designated hitter Isaac Feldstein singled with runners on the corners to re-take the lead and after third baseman Willy Yahn was intentionally walked to load the bases, Gnesda singled and brought home two runs for a 6-3 lead.
Stefanski singled to left for another insurance run before John Russell came into the game for the eighth.
Houston made it interesting against Russell in the ninth, loading the bases with no one out, but a 5-4-3 double play took the wind out of the Cougars’ sails and gave the Huskies a much-needed win.
UConn (25-20, 10-8) will get back to J.O. Christian Field on Tuesday against Sacred Heart. First pitch is at 3 p.m.